News & Events

FDA Releases Latest Information on Jerky Treat Investigation

May 16, 2014

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just posted an update on its ongoing investigation into pet illnesses and deaths in animals that ate jerky pet treats. This update includes the latest information about complaints of illnesses, FDA’s collaboration with the CDC on a new case control study, and new findings revealed through the agency’s testing. Unfortunately, FDA has still not been able to identify a specific cause for the reported illnesses or deaths. Read the update here: http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm397713.htm

Because there is currently no scientific evidence of a specific toxin in the jerky products that are being investigated, these products remain available in stores. Please consider printing this caution flyer and posting it on your Facebook page, website and in your clinic for the benefit of pet owners.

If you have encountered a suspected Canadian case and have not yet had a chance to report it to CVMA, please provide us with the following details at your earliest convenience (send to communications@cvma-acmv.org):

Pet’s breed, sex, weight and health status before the reaction.

Frequency, quantity and dates that the jerky treats were being fed.

Were the treats all from the same bag? If not, how many different packages of treats were fed?

Lot number or UPC code from the treat package(s).

Digital photograph of the bag of treats.

List of any medications the pet was being given at time of the reaction and the quantity and frequency that the medication was being administered.

List of all foods that were being provided at the time of the reaction (pet foods and any human foods).

Copies of all tests that were run at the time of the reaction (blood tests, urinalysis, titres if available, tests results for Lepto and Lyme if available).